Monday, July 9, 2012
Linus the kitten Video
NEW KITTEH!
Sorry about the drastic amount of time since the last posting. I kinda forgot this page existed for a bit... my bad. But anyways, I have exciting news - we have a new kitten! His name is Linus, and he's a dark brown/tan tabby. He's three months old, and has enough energy to power a jet engine, if you could ever figure out the conversion rate for that. It may not have been the ideal companion choice for the giant framed 2 year old Apollo, but little Linus was at the vet's office, was extremely adorable, and needed a home.
Here's the full story. Apollo needed some kitty shots, so we set up an appointment at a random vet's office. His last vet is quite far away, and generally cats do not enjoy 2.5 hour round trip car rides. So I chose the nearest one to the apartment. We loaded him up and brought him in, and were immediately given a cute overload when we realized that in the crate in the waiting room was three bitty kittens staring us down. We had been considering getting another kitty for awhile, and seeing those little poofballs made up our mind right then and there. And to make it even more awesome, the kittens there were brought in by a feral cat rescue group, so without the awesome crew that did this, Linus would be a stray kitten somewhere out in the scary world of the Chicago suburbs.
We brought Apollo home and immediately set about preparing for a munchkin cat. We did our best to hide cords and remove hazardous items, and the cacti found a safe home out on the patio. They were already in rough shape from Apollo's interesting affinity for cacti tackles, so I didn't want to risk killing yet another plant. We rearranged Apollo's modular cat tower, so now we've got the base unit in the living room, and a smaller unit in the bedroom for the kitten to play with when he's locked away (until the cats are absolutely peachy together, Linus will be locked in the bedroom so there aren't any epic cat battles while we are at school/work).
So bright and early the next morning (Ok, more like 10:00. That's early for weekend us), we headed over to find our new kitty. We were given a chance to open the kitty crate and let the kittens run loose while we decided which one. I'm fairly sure we chose the maniac of the crowd, because the one we managed to snag was also the one dive-bombing the other kittens. We grabbed him on one of his mad dashes when he skidded out on the tile floor, and got him into his crate where he promptly started protesting.
Once home, his attitude improved. We let him have free reign over the bedroom. He started out cautiously exploring his food dish and new bed, and within 5 minutes was showing off his bouncing, flailing, and turbo-jumping skills by getting up on the bed, tackling limbs, and tossing every toy he came across into the oblivion of under the bed. Apollo spent a couple hours camped outside the bedroom door, trying to figure out why there was a tiny creature taking over his bed.
The weekend brought all ranges of cat emotions. Apollo went from outrage, to annoyance, to acceptance of the little squirt. They can now sit a foot away from each other without Apollo having a spaz attack, and Linus has learned (mostly) that other cat's tails are not playthings. They even chased a laser pointer without trying to destroy each other. It will still be a few days before they can be for sure trusted together, but they are almost friends. And Linus has proven to be a people kitty. We had several friends over throughout the weekend, and he became best buddies with every one of them.
Apollo is still a bit ticked off. He doesn't always want to share his bountiful piles of cat toys, and he's very territorial of his modular kitty fort. But he's willingly given up the santa crinkle hat and a few of his dozens of mice, so we're definitely making progress.
Only downside of this kitten situation - darn little furball is an early morning riser! We've got him locked in the bedroom at night to make sure there's no epic kitty battles happening before the little guy can defend himself from the whale kitty. His first night, Linus was perfectly peaceful, and didn't bother us until almost 10am. Last night however, he was up at full force at 4:30am and AGAIN 5:30am. We got face trampled and foot grappled, and when Linus got tired of that he wiped his cold wet nose over every inch of exposed skin. Luckily, he's too tiny to shove pillows out of the way, so my face burrowing under some extra pillows protected me for another hour or so of sleep before his kitten yelps finally got me out of bed for good.
Overall, this is an awesome little cat. He's fearless of the Apollo beast, and they're making major playtime progress. I give it a week at most, and they will be perfectly able to tolerate each other. He's extremely playful, an extreme attention seeker, and passes out in adorable spots and positions. And to finish off this post, here's several pictures from their past few days of kitty-sibling life. There's also a video being uploaded, but it's taking its sweet time going through the uploady-thingy, so I'll post it separately soon. Enjoy!
Here's the full story. Apollo needed some kitty shots, so we set up an appointment at a random vet's office. His last vet is quite far away, and generally cats do not enjoy 2.5 hour round trip car rides. So I chose the nearest one to the apartment. We loaded him up and brought him in, and were immediately given a cute overload when we realized that in the crate in the waiting room was three bitty kittens staring us down. We had been considering getting another kitty for awhile, and seeing those little poofballs made up our mind right then and there. And to make it even more awesome, the kittens there were brought in by a feral cat rescue group, so without the awesome crew that did this, Linus would be a stray kitten somewhere out in the scary world of the Chicago suburbs.
We brought Apollo home and immediately set about preparing for a munchkin cat. We did our best to hide cords and remove hazardous items, and the cacti found a safe home out on the patio. They were already in rough shape from Apollo's interesting affinity for cacti tackles, so I didn't want to risk killing yet another plant. We rearranged Apollo's modular cat tower, so now we've got the base unit in the living room, and a smaller unit in the bedroom for the kitten to play with when he's locked away (until the cats are absolutely peachy together, Linus will be locked in the bedroom so there aren't any epic cat battles while we are at school/work).
So bright and early the next morning (Ok, more like 10:00. That's early for weekend us), we headed over to find our new kitty. We were given a chance to open the kitty crate and let the kittens run loose while we decided which one. I'm fairly sure we chose the maniac of the crowd, because the one we managed to snag was also the one dive-bombing the other kittens. We grabbed him on one of his mad dashes when he skidded out on the tile floor, and got him into his crate where he promptly started protesting.
Once home, his attitude improved. We let him have free reign over the bedroom. He started out cautiously exploring his food dish and new bed, and within 5 minutes was showing off his bouncing, flailing, and turbo-jumping skills by getting up on the bed, tackling limbs, and tossing every toy he came across into the oblivion of under the bed. Apollo spent a couple hours camped outside the bedroom door, trying to figure out why there was a tiny creature taking over his bed.
The weekend brought all ranges of cat emotions. Apollo went from outrage, to annoyance, to acceptance of the little squirt. They can now sit a foot away from each other without Apollo having a spaz attack, and Linus has learned (mostly) that other cat's tails are not playthings. They even chased a laser pointer without trying to destroy each other. It will still be a few days before they can be for sure trusted together, but they are almost friends. And Linus has proven to be a people kitty. We had several friends over throughout the weekend, and he became best buddies with every one of them.
Apollo is still a bit ticked off. He doesn't always want to share his bountiful piles of cat toys, and he's very territorial of his modular kitty fort. But he's willingly given up the santa crinkle hat and a few of his dozens of mice, so we're definitely making progress.
Only downside of this kitten situation - darn little furball is an early morning riser! We've got him locked in the bedroom at night to make sure there's no epic kitty battles happening before the little guy can defend himself from the whale kitty. His first night, Linus was perfectly peaceful, and didn't bother us until almost 10am. Last night however, he was up at full force at 4:30am and AGAIN 5:30am. We got face trampled and foot grappled, and when Linus got tired of that he wiped his cold wet nose over every inch of exposed skin. Luckily, he's too tiny to shove pillows out of the way, so my face burrowing under some extra pillows protected me for another hour or so of sleep before his kitten yelps finally got me out of bed for good.
Overall, this is an awesome little cat. He's fearless of the Apollo beast, and they're making major playtime progress. I give it a week at most, and they will be perfectly able to tolerate each other. He's extremely playful, an extreme attention seeker, and passes out in adorable spots and positions. And to finish off this post, here's several pictures from their past few days of kitty-sibling life. There's also a video being uploaded, but it's taking its sweet time going through the uploady-thingy, so I'll post it separately soon. Enjoy!
 |
| Linus exploring the mini cat base |
 |
| Apollo tiredly observing all of the kitten excitement. |
 |
| So tired... apparently smartphones are exhausting for a kitty. |
 |
| You mean we have to keep the little furball? He keeps om nomming my tail! |
 |
| New toys, new people... this is a big weekend. |
 |
| Apollo being a thoughtful little cat and guarding the doorway |
 |
| Apollo gazing out on his living room domain. Note the flailing cat blob in the upper right hand corner. |
 |
| BEST KITTEH FORT EVERRRRRR!!!!!! |
Monday, December 12, 2011
New Apartment, New Antics!
As you can guess from the title, we have recently switched up our apartment situation. We moved literally a mile down the road, and are now living in a 2 bedroom apartment, and we now have a roommate. Apollo loves this, because it means extra attention opportunities as well as extra meal opportunities. That manipulative little creature has learned how to play on our pity emotions, and has tricked us into many extra food scoops. Myself, Boyfriend, and Roommate all have different school/work/activity schedules, and in turn tend to wake up at different times in the morning. Apollo caught on to this quite quickly. So at 7am, when roommate is getting ready for class, he marches over to her, screams in his little pitiful meow, and demands breakfast. He then gets right to work polishing off that bowl, as well as any crumbs that might have fallen on the floor in his food frenzy. An hour or so later, boyfriend wakes up and is greeted by a sad little fat cat with an empty food dish and a very convincing cry for food. So he gets another scoop. And he'll do the same thing in the evenings while waiting for dinner. Every other cat I've known will stop eating food when they're full. Apollo, however, stops eating only when the dish is empty, and then he demands more.
For a couple days, we tried verbally checking with each other whether he was fed already, but that doesn't always work when someone is in class, at work, or forgets their phone. So he was still managing to get extra food, and we were always left wondering if kitten needed mealtime. So I found a solution. I drew up a special "Kitty Mealtime Checklist," which is now taped up on the wall right above his food dish. It comes complete with a pen hanging from the counter next to it, so we can always make use of it. Now we never have to question whether the cat is messing with our minds, or whether he really is a starving little Apollo-pants. I don't know what's worse; the fact that the cat is that good at tricking us, or the fact that we have to keep a checklist for his dinnertimes.
In addition to his ever-present food demands, he's also found a few new ways to occupy himself. There is a fireplace at the new apartment, which he figured out how to get into, and left some charming little ashy paw prints all over the living room area. The apartment also has a bit of a loop to it. There's a sunroom that connects the living/dining room to our bedroom, so Apollo runs laps around this, and gets himself all worked up. When he's in the right mood, he will arch his back, poof up his tail, spike up his back fur, and prances around sideways at people, then jumps up to "attack" before sprinting away at roughly 90 miles an hour. And this isn't just a one-and-done type of attack. He will do this over and over and over for a half hour until he's all tuckered out.
I have plenty more stories about some of Apollo's recent actions, including the unspeakable destruction that he did to our bed. But I'll hold off on those for the next post, and leave you with a few awesome pictures that I've taken over the last couple months.
For a couple days, we tried verbally checking with each other whether he was fed already, but that doesn't always work when someone is in class, at work, or forgets their phone. So he was still managing to get extra food, and we were always left wondering if kitten needed mealtime. So I found a solution. I drew up a special "Kitty Mealtime Checklist," which is now taped up on the wall right above his food dish. It comes complete with a pen hanging from the counter next to it, so we can always make use of it. Now we never have to question whether the cat is messing with our minds, or whether he really is a starving little Apollo-pants. I don't know what's worse; the fact that the cat is that good at tricking us, or the fact that we have to keep a checklist for his dinnertimes.
 |
| The checklist that we now have to use, since apparently the Cat is incapable of pacing himself on meals. |
In addition to his ever-present food demands, he's also found a few new ways to occupy himself. There is a fireplace at the new apartment, which he figured out how to get into, and left some charming little ashy paw prints all over the living room area. The apartment also has a bit of a loop to it. There's a sunroom that connects the living/dining room to our bedroom, so Apollo runs laps around this, and gets himself all worked up. When he's in the right mood, he will arch his back, poof up his tail, spike up his back fur, and prances around sideways at people, then jumps up to "attack" before sprinting away at roughly 90 miles an hour. And this isn't just a one-and-done type of attack. He will do this over and over and over for a half hour until he's all tuckered out.
I have plenty more stories about some of Apollo's recent actions, including the unspeakable destruction that he did to our bed. But I'll hold off on those for the next post, and leave you with a few awesome pictures that I've taken over the last couple months.
 |
| We were watching a movie, and Apollo found the PERFECT viewing spot. Nice and warm, great screen view, and within arm's reach to get head scratches from me. |
 |
| Apollo has a new best friend for the winter. It's name is Heating Blanket. If it is turned on, Apollo will not move. For hours. Even if it's bedtime and you want to move your legs. It's just not allowed when kitteh and blanket are together. |
 |
| Apollo loves new people! Even when being pinned down on someone's lap much like a rag doll or teddy bear, he just kinda goes with it. He's even got his little toesies in the air! As long as he gets extra attention, he'll do almost anything. This is also the night we found out Apollo is both fascinated by and terrified of wheelchairs. They make great kitty forts to sit under and rub gums on...until the fort starts moving! |
 |
| Sprawling out in the armchair that he stole from me. Apparently I'm not allowed to sit in it today. |
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
The Morning Routine
Apollo is a kitten. He's sixteen pounds and has the figure of a walrus, but he's only a year and a half, so he's still got a spirited and feisty attitude. Which means he is locked out of the bedroom at night, so that his feisty attitude doesn't surface at three in the morning with a rousing round of tackle the toesies. Apollo does not find this situation to be ideal. Because when he gets hungry early in the morning, he has to go through great lengths to bring his supposed starving belly to our attention.
It starts at about seven in the morning. If one of us isn't already up, he decides that it has just been far too long since his last meal, and he starts throwing a fit. He goes to the door and starts flailing and throwing himself against it. I think he's trying to reach up and grab the doorknob, but he can't actually turn it since he (thankfully) doesn't have thumbs. Honestly, the first time we heard it, we were freaked out. We thought the maintenance people had come in and had started taking down our drywall, or that a rogue thief was dragging a bookshelf along the wall. But, no, it's just the cat, insisting that we haven't fed him in weeks.
If that doesn't work, he simply sets up camp right next to the door so that he can bust in the instant the door opens. As soon as the door is cracked open by one of us leaving the room, he jumps up even if he was in a deep sleep, charges into the bedroom, and starts walking in a little circle, screaming. And he doesn't use a typical meow or moan that you would expect out of a 16 pound cat. Apollo still uses the same high-pitched squeaky meow that he's used every day since we got him as a 6 week old little pipsqueak. As soon as myself or the boyfriend step out into the hallway, Apollo just marches up behind us, and starts his mad dash for the kitchen for his fresh serving of kitteh om noms.
As soon as he has gotten a few bites into his famished little belly, he's ready to start following his humans again. Apollo follows people into the bathroom so that he can supervise all of our water usage. As you know from previous posts, Apollo loves the sink. It's the perfect nap spot, and when the water is on, it's an hour's worth of entertainment. Which is quite inconvenient in the mornings, since I need to brush my teeth, wash my face, and need access to a sink without a furball sitting in the middle of it.
And that is why it's so convenient that Apollo has now fallen in love with the tub. Thanks to slow apartment complex maintenance, we had a leaky tub for a week, with a constant low trickle of water coming out. Apollo loved it. He had a constant source of fresh water to drink from. He also had water to poke at, hit, wrestle with, and lunge at. And he had water to dunk his head and paws in, and take a little kitty bath. After it got fixed, he still demanded access to his tub water. So now, if he's blocked off from the sink in the morning, he will cry and yell while sitting in the tub until the water gets turned on. As soon as the water is trickling out, he shuts up and gets to work taking a bath and getting in a fight. He stays there for a good 10-15 minutes, then hops out so that I can finally turn the water off.
At this point, he goes about his morning, getting everything done that he couldn't do while he was desperately waiting for food or tub time. Sometimes he needs a nap from such an exhausting morning, sometimes it's more food, or sometimes it's a good wrestle with my cacti. But he has gotten very used to this routine. This exact same process happens EVERY MORNING. And has been pretty much the same for months. Apollo really loves to stay on his schedule.
For your viewing pleasure, I've included a video of Apollo in his sink. He will stay there for hours. Even if the water is running right onto him. Enjoy!
It starts at about seven in the morning. If one of us isn't already up, he decides that it has just been far too long since his last meal, and he starts throwing a fit. He goes to the door and starts flailing and throwing himself against it. I think he's trying to reach up and grab the doorknob, but he can't actually turn it since he (thankfully) doesn't have thumbs. Honestly, the first time we heard it, we were freaked out. We thought the maintenance people had come in and had started taking down our drywall, or that a rogue thief was dragging a bookshelf along the wall. But, no, it's just the cat, insisting that we haven't fed him in weeks.
If that doesn't work, he simply sets up camp right next to the door so that he can bust in the instant the door opens. As soon as the door is cracked open by one of us leaving the room, he jumps up even if he was in a deep sleep, charges into the bedroom, and starts walking in a little circle, screaming. And he doesn't use a typical meow or moan that you would expect out of a 16 pound cat. Apollo still uses the same high-pitched squeaky meow that he's used every day since we got him as a 6 week old little pipsqueak. As soon as myself or the boyfriend step out into the hallway, Apollo just marches up behind us, and starts his mad dash for the kitchen for his fresh serving of kitteh om noms.
As soon as he has gotten a few bites into his famished little belly, he's ready to start following his humans again. Apollo follows people into the bathroom so that he can supervise all of our water usage. As you know from previous posts, Apollo loves the sink. It's the perfect nap spot, and when the water is on, it's an hour's worth of entertainment. Which is quite inconvenient in the mornings, since I need to brush my teeth, wash my face, and need access to a sink without a furball sitting in the middle of it.
And that is why it's so convenient that Apollo has now fallen in love with the tub. Thanks to slow apartment complex maintenance, we had a leaky tub for a week, with a constant low trickle of water coming out. Apollo loved it. He had a constant source of fresh water to drink from. He also had water to poke at, hit, wrestle with, and lunge at. And he had water to dunk his head and paws in, and take a little kitty bath. After it got fixed, he still demanded access to his tub water. So now, if he's blocked off from the sink in the morning, he will cry and yell while sitting in the tub until the water gets turned on. As soon as the water is trickling out, he shuts up and gets to work taking a bath and getting in a fight. He stays there for a good 10-15 minutes, then hops out so that I can finally turn the water off.
At this point, he goes about his morning, getting everything done that he couldn't do while he was desperately waiting for food or tub time. Sometimes he needs a nap from such an exhausting morning, sometimes it's more food, or sometimes it's a good wrestle with my cacti. But he has gotten very used to this routine. This exact same process happens EVERY MORNING. And has been pretty much the same for months. Apollo really loves to stay on his schedule.
For your viewing pleasure, I've included a video of Apollo in his sink. He will stay there for hours. Even if the water is running right onto him. Enjoy!
 |
| Apollo eating his breakfast. Note the food pieces all over the floor that he picked out with his paw. And apparently sitting up this early in the morning is just unacceptable. And yes, that is a Little Mermaid placemat, just for kitteh! |
 |
| Back to bed after a busy morning. I'm surprised he still fits in this thing! |
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Darn Cat Thinks He Owns The Place
The other day, we had a massive apartment clean-out kind of day. We started just going through dishes, and we've progressed to going through closets and drawers, scavenging for things that we forgot even existed. But it wouldn't be a clean-out without Apollo deciding he needs to supervise our every move. Throughout the past few days, he's done several things that seem to demonstrate how he thinks he's the top kitty in this apartment.
The day started with us realizing we needed to re-arrange his kitty fort set-up. It's a modular fort, so you can hook up different boxes together and change the style. The way we had it, it was nice and tall. It looked awesome, but we found out it was not very sturdy. Every time he climbed on it, the entire tower would shake violently, threatening to launch the kitty. We changed it up to make it more flat and wide, and far more sturdy. Apollo promptly walked up, took a couple sniffs, and parked himself across the room to admire it.
Ignoring the cat who had just turned his nose up at our hard efforts to fix his fort, I went to go fold some laundry. Apollo trotted along with me, and claimed the clothesbasket I was going to use as his own and made himself cozy. I dumped him out, and he jumped right back in. Apparently I'm not allowed to fold laundry without the cat's direct supervision. He also made himself useful by flailing his paws around whenever socks or shirt sleeves flew over him, and tried to wrestle a few towels.
After he got worn out from laundry fighting, he marched over to my desk. He found a few hair clips on my desk. They have little black fabric flowers on them, and are very pretty. Apollo certainly thought so, since he tried to steal them. He picked up the flower in his mouth, and quickly ran with one of them to the other side of the apartment to chew on it and poke at it. I went and fetched it and put it back, only to have him steal it another three times before I finally realized I should hide them if I ever cared to see them again.
Apollo also decided to claim ownership of my grocery shopping bag. I left it on the floor after putting away a few items, and the cat just went to town with it. He sprinted across the room and dove right in, hopped out, jumped on the top, ran away, and did it all over again. He did that over and over for a good 20 minutes. Apollo wore himself out, crawled inside the bag like it was a sleeping bag, and passed out. I was going to put it away later that night, but every time he heard the fabric rustling he would come running and start playing again. It's been a few days and it's still out, just for him. Of all the toys that we've bought him, the one he loves the most is a $1 bag. At least we know for the future we can save our money...
(For your viewing pleasure, go to the bottom of this post to see bag-tackling action on video!)
I also bought new kitty food to fill up his food container. It's a decent sized bin, able to hold a big bag of it. As I was pouring it in, Apollo decided he was desperately hungry, and couldn't wait another second to get food in his belly. Mind you, this was about an hour after his dinnertime. His dish was already empty from him shoveling it up already. He should not have been that hungry. But nonetheless, he decided he was hungry, and plunged his head into the container as the last few pieces fell on top. The container is about 3/4 as tall as him, and he still decided it was a good feeding trough. Charming, cat. This is why you have a beer belly.
This cat totally has it made, and it seems like he knows it. He has claimed ownership of just about everything in this apartment, including the people in it. For being such a little creature, he sure has a big attitude on him.
Skip to 0:17 to skip through the boring part that I couldn't figure out how to edit. It's worth the wait and suspense!
The day started with us realizing we needed to re-arrange his kitty fort set-up. It's a modular fort, so you can hook up different boxes together and change the style. The way we had it, it was nice and tall. It looked awesome, but we found out it was not very sturdy. Every time he climbed on it, the entire tower would shake violently, threatening to launch the kitty. We changed it up to make it more flat and wide, and far more sturdy. Apollo promptly walked up, took a couple sniffs, and parked himself across the room to admire it.
Ignoring the cat who had just turned his nose up at our hard efforts to fix his fort, I went to go fold some laundry. Apollo trotted along with me, and claimed the clothesbasket I was going to use as his own and made himself cozy. I dumped him out, and he jumped right back in. Apparently I'm not allowed to fold laundry without the cat's direct supervision. He also made himself useful by flailing his paws around whenever socks or shirt sleeves flew over him, and tried to wrestle a few towels.
After he got worn out from laundry fighting, he marched over to my desk. He found a few hair clips on my desk. They have little black fabric flowers on them, and are very pretty. Apollo certainly thought so, since he tried to steal them. He picked up the flower in his mouth, and quickly ran with one of them to the other side of the apartment to chew on it and poke at it. I went and fetched it and put it back, only to have him steal it another three times before I finally realized I should hide them if I ever cared to see them again.
Apollo also decided to claim ownership of my grocery shopping bag. I left it on the floor after putting away a few items, and the cat just went to town with it. He sprinted across the room and dove right in, hopped out, jumped on the top, ran away, and did it all over again. He did that over and over for a good 20 minutes. Apollo wore himself out, crawled inside the bag like it was a sleeping bag, and passed out. I was going to put it away later that night, but every time he heard the fabric rustling he would come running and start playing again. It's been a few days and it's still out, just for him. Of all the toys that we've bought him, the one he loves the most is a $1 bag. At least we know for the future we can save our money...
(For your viewing pleasure, go to the bottom of this post to see bag-tackling action on video!)
I also bought new kitty food to fill up his food container. It's a decent sized bin, able to hold a big bag of it. As I was pouring it in, Apollo decided he was desperately hungry, and couldn't wait another second to get food in his belly. Mind you, this was about an hour after his dinnertime. His dish was already empty from him shoveling it up already. He should not have been that hungry. But nonetheless, he decided he was hungry, and plunged his head into the container as the last few pieces fell on top. The container is about 3/4 as tall as him, and he still decided it was a good feeding trough. Charming, cat. This is why you have a beer belly.
This cat totally has it made, and it seems like he knows it. He has claimed ownership of just about everything in this apartment, including the people in it. For being such a little creature, he sure has a big attitude on him.
 | ||
| Oh, hai! You want this shirt? You'll have to wrestle me for it. |
 |
| Cat needs om noms RIGHT NOW! |
Monday, September 5, 2011
Underwater Kitty
We discovered by accident that Apollo actually likes frolicking in water. As you saw by the picture in the last post, he has taken to sleeping for hours in the bathroom sink. He's got a specific route he takes each time to get into the sink, and will come and yell at us if it is blocked for some reason. Apollo has to jump up to the top of the toilet, then carefully step across the gap to the sink, then shove soap dishes or contact solution out of his way so he can make his way over and settle into the basin. It's quite the ordeal for him. And apparently an exhausting system, because after all this, he passes out and refuses to get up for hours. Which in most cases is tolerable. We can just wash hands in the kitchen sink, and deal with the kitty blob that thinks he owns the bathroom.
But it's also quite inconvenient. I despise mornings, and choose to sleep in as late as possible, even if it means being in a huge rush in the mornings to get out the door. So one morning this week, I had about 20 minutes to get dressed, get ready, and grab food before having to run out the door to work. I was getting ready to brush my teeth, but of course Apollo had settled into his sink spot, and wasn't ready to move. I didn't feel like fighting and wrestling with him, especially with toothbrush already in hand, so I just turned on the faucet. I figured he'd get the message and storm off to dry himself off and skulk in the living room. I was wrong. Apollo absolutely LOVED it. He turned around and watched the stream of water roll down his beer belly, then arched his back so that he could drink from the faucet while still laying down. To even out the kitty moisture level, he then shifted and rolled over, so that his entire back got a helping of water. After about a few minutes of this, Apollo finally realized that the water was not going to stop, and finally leaped out of my way.
Apollo's water fascination was not just a one time fluke, either. Now, any time I turn the faucet on, he runs to the bathroom for playtime. He stands on the edge and smacks and fights with the water, takes a couple sips, then goes back to hitting it. If it's a really warm day, he rolls over in it a few times to cool off. And he gets very confused if the stream of water changes from a trickle to full force. When I'm brushing my teeth or standing at the sink for any length of time, I even have to stand in such a way as to block his pathway to the sink, because otherwise he moves right in, oblivious to the fact that the sink is a crucial part to getting ready every morning and every night.
For the most part, the boyfriend and I have gotten used to Apollo's presence in the bathroom. Yes, it is incredibly awkward to shower and have a cat dozing in the sink a few feet away. And if the door is closed with him locked away from his sink, he will throw himself against the door or stick his paws under the door and try to find a way in. But we have friends that come over and are not expecting a kitty to be lounging there. Multiple times I have had to be summoned to remove a cat from the sink that is defending his "territory" by smacking and poking at people that just want a minute or two of privacy. This cat honestly thinks that he owns this apartment, and that the sink is there for the sole purpose of giving him a cool place to nap.
But it's also quite inconvenient. I despise mornings, and choose to sleep in as late as possible, even if it means being in a huge rush in the mornings to get out the door. So one morning this week, I had about 20 minutes to get dressed, get ready, and grab food before having to run out the door to work. I was getting ready to brush my teeth, but of course Apollo had settled into his sink spot, and wasn't ready to move. I didn't feel like fighting and wrestling with him, especially with toothbrush already in hand, so I just turned on the faucet. I figured he'd get the message and storm off to dry himself off and skulk in the living room. I was wrong. Apollo absolutely LOVED it. He turned around and watched the stream of water roll down his beer belly, then arched his back so that he could drink from the faucet while still laying down. To even out the kitty moisture level, he then shifted and rolled over, so that his entire back got a helping of water. After about a few minutes of this, Apollo finally realized that the water was not going to stop, and finally leaped out of my way.
Apollo's water fascination was not just a one time fluke, either. Now, any time I turn the faucet on, he runs to the bathroom for playtime. He stands on the edge and smacks and fights with the water, takes a couple sips, then goes back to hitting it. If it's a really warm day, he rolls over in it a few times to cool off. And he gets very confused if the stream of water changes from a trickle to full force. When I'm brushing my teeth or standing at the sink for any length of time, I even have to stand in such a way as to block his pathway to the sink, because otherwise he moves right in, oblivious to the fact that the sink is a crucial part to getting ready every morning and every night.
For the most part, the boyfriend and I have gotten used to Apollo's presence in the bathroom. Yes, it is incredibly awkward to shower and have a cat dozing in the sink a few feet away. And if the door is closed with him locked away from his sink, he will throw himself against the door or stick his paws under the door and try to find a way in. But we have friends that come over and are not expecting a kitty to be lounging there. Multiple times I have had to be summoned to remove a cat from the sink that is defending his "territory" by smacking and poking at people that just want a minute or two of privacy. This cat honestly thinks that he owns this apartment, and that the sink is there for the sole purpose of giving him a cool place to nap.
 |
| Apollo trying to hit a person that is invading in his personal sink space. |
Monday, August 29, 2011
Catnipped Kitty
Sorry for the long wait between posts. Between working two jobs, dealing with a legally insane feline, and trying to actually have a social life, it's been a hectic couple of weeks. But now I'm back, complete with a brand new Apollo tale for you!
Like most cats, Apollo absolutely loves catnip. He's got a few catnip toys that he still frolicks with, even though he's had them for months. If they were mine, I'd already be bored of them, but he seems to love them. Putting catnip in toys isn't enough for him, though, so we also have a little baggie of the fresh stuff to put on the floor, in boxes, on toys, or on the cat so that he can get Catnipped to the Max on special occasions. Apollo eats and licks it right up, and promptly spends the next 20 minutes all giddy, relaxed, and laid back. Well...correction. We HAD catnip. Until Apollo found our secret stash.
We're still not entirely sure how he pulled it off. We went out grocery shopping, and when we came back, the living room was in a bit of disarray. Somehow our charming little animal got the catnip down from the very top shelf in the living room. Mind you, this isn't a little 2 or 3 shelf deal. This is an almost 6 foot high bookshelf, stacked to the brim with books. I imagine he could smell the catnip on the shelf, got pissed at having to wait for us to get it down for him, and just bodyslammed the side of the shelf to shake it until the lightweight baggie fell gracefully onto the floor. After getting the catnip within reach, he promptly sank his teeth and claws into it and ripped the bag to shreds to get out the goods. It was sprinkled everywhere, and ground into the carpet. That means that not only did he eat it off the floor, he rolled back and forth in it to get the catnip good and stuck into both his fur and our white carpet. And since he rubbed it into his fur, vacuuming didn't help a whole lot because no sooner would we do a pass with the vacuum than Apollo would sit down, roll some more, and sprinkle out some catnip he had stashed under his collar. Such a charmer, isn't he?
Luckily, I don't think there's any sort of "kitty catnip overdose." In fact, the whole ordeal made Apollo much more pleasant to deal with. Rather than being the angry, bitey, and eager to claw little kitty that we get to tolerate on a daily basis, Apollo became the sweet, laid back, and groggy little stoned cat that he becomes after eating an entire bag of the Nip. He napped all day, his eyes were all red and squinty, and upon us returning home, he promptly went into the sink and passed out for the entire afternoon.
Do you have any idea how adorable a cat passed out in the bathroom sink is? Sure, it wreaks havoc on the plumbing, as we found out, when all the little Apollo hairs work their way through the pipes. And it's certainly unpleasant to find Apollo hairs plastered to the sides when rinsing toothpaste out of your mouth. And it's incredibly inconvenient to need to wash your hands and have a cat laying there and guarding it with his life, swatting and biting at anyone who comes near. But it is one of the darn most adorable things I've ever seen Apollo do. So there you have it, visitors. If you ever come to my apartment and want to win Apollo over, just bring him some catnip and let him go to town with it. But if you have the audacity to try to use what Apollo is convinced is his bathroom, you might be better off using the kitchen sink to wash your hands.
Next entry in the Apollo saga...he actually likes water! To hold you over to the next post, here's a video to prove it.
Like most cats, Apollo absolutely loves catnip. He's got a few catnip toys that he still frolicks with, even though he's had them for months. If they were mine, I'd already be bored of them, but he seems to love them. Putting catnip in toys isn't enough for him, though, so we also have a little baggie of the fresh stuff to put on the floor, in boxes, on toys, or on the cat so that he can get Catnipped to the Max on special occasions. Apollo eats and licks it right up, and promptly spends the next 20 minutes all giddy, relaxed, and laid back. Well...correction. We HAD catnip. Until Apollo found our secret stash.
We're still not entirely sure how he pulled it off. We went out grocery shopping, and when we came back, the living room was in a bit of disarray. Somehow our charming little animal got the catnip down from the very top shelf in the living room. Mind you, this isn't a little 2 or 3 shelf deal. This is an almost 6 foot high bookshelf, stacked to the brim with books. I imagine he could smell the catnip on the shelf, got pissed at having to wait for us to get it down for him, and just bodyslammed the side of the shelf to shake it until the lightweight baggie fell gracefully onto the floor. After getting the catnip within reach, he promptly sank his teeth and claws into it and ripped the bag to shreds to get out the goods. It was sprinkled everywhere, and ground into the carpet. That means that not only did he eat it off the floor, he rolled back and forth in it to get the catnip good and stuck into both his fur and our white carpet. And since he rubbed it into his fur, vacuuming didn't help a whole lot because no sooner would we do a pass with the vacuum than Apollo would sit down, roll some more, and sprinkle out some catnip he had stashed under his collar. Such a charmer, isn't he?
Luckily, I don't think there's any sort of "kitty catnip overdose." In fact, the whole ordeal made Apollo much more pleasant to deal with. Rather than being the angry, bitey, and eager to claw little kitty that we get to tolerate on a daily basis, Apollo became the sweet, laid back, and groggy little stoned cat that he becomes after eating an entire bag of the Nip. He napped all day, his eyes were all red and squinty, and upon us returning home, he promptly went into the sink and passed out for the entire afternoon.
Do you have any idea how adorable a cat passed out in the bathroom sink is? Sure, it wreaks havoc on the plumbing, as we found out, when all the little Apollo hairs work their way through the pipes. And it's certainly unpleasant to find Apollo hairs plastered to the sides when rinsing toothpaste out of your mouth. And it's incredibly inconvenient to need to wash your hands and have a cat laying there and guarding it with his life, swatting and biting at anyone who comes near. But it is one of the darn most adorable things I've ever seen Apollo do. So there you have it, visitors. If you ever come to my apartment and want to win Apollo over, just bring him some catnip and let him go to town with it. But if you have the audacity to try to use what Apollo is convinced is his bathroom, you might be better off using the kitchen sink to wash your hands.
 |
| Apollo the mighty "Sink Guard" |
 |
| Not only does Apollo think the sink is his, he also sometimes commandeers the toilet. |
Next entry in the Apollo saga...he actually likes water! To hold you over to the next post, here's a video to prove it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)